Hollywood wants Congress to legalize deployment of ransomware on pirates' computers - Polidicks

[url]http://boingboing.net/2013/05/26/us-entertainment-industry-to-c.html[/url] [quote=BoingBoing]The hilariously named "Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property" has finally released its report, an 84-page tome that's pretty bonkers. But amidst all that crazy, there's a bit that stands out as particularly insane: a proposal to legalize the use of malware in order to punish people believed to be copying illegally. The report proposes that software would be loaded on computers that would somehow figure out if you were a pirate, and if you were, it would lock your computer up and take all your files hostage until you call the police and confess your crime. This is the mechanism that crooks use when they deploy ransomware.[/quote] To this, Hollywood can easily be given the middle finger with the use of just one word: Linux.

Rougeamp will be able to retire early with all that ad revenue on the guides on how to remove this shit.

Fuck you, you shitheads. I hope every single person in support of this gets infected with the most advanced version of the ICE/FBI virus on the net.

Go fuck yourselves.

if this impossibly comes to pass, they would somehow have to get antivirus providers to whitelist them which means actual virus makers will likely somehow reverse engineer this program and use the code to bypass antiviruses with their own ransomware

[quote=the article]Such measures do not violate existing laws on the use of the Internet[/quote] CFAA of 1984. Prohibits unauthorized access to a protected system.

also there is laws against damaging peoples computers via malware, viruses, etc etc

oh no my machine was infected with ransomware -file -shut down virtual machine -right click -delete virtual drive

[QUOTE=Forumaster;40799086]Fuck you, you shitheads. I hope every single person in support of this gets infected with the most advanced version of the ICE/FBI virus on the net.[/QUOTE] I wish they get [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIH_(computer_virus)"]this[/URL]. [editline]27th May 2013[/editline] Except that it's a win9x virus but yeah.

This guy makes a great point: [quote=Hacker news - beloch] What qualities do people look for when buying movies and music? 1. The content they want. 2. Quality (i.e. resolution, bitrate, etc.) 3. Reliability (it actually plays) 4. Low annoyance (no ads, warnings, etc.) 5. Safety (guaranteed freedom from malware, etc.) The movie and music industries haven't done a perfect job of delivering #1-4. Region coding means the content users want is frequently only available through pirate channels. Lower quality releases (DVD vs Bluray) are also often all that is available in some regions. Bluray is not reliable if users don't keep their hardware/software up to date. Nearly all DVD's and bluray discs on the market are utterly infested with annoying advertisements and warning screens. #5 was the one thing that legally purchased media had an undeniable edge in over pirated media. If users lose trust in the safety of legally purchased media they will be driven to piracy in unprecedented numbers. It is tempting to give RIAA and MPAA the rope to hang themselves with, sit back, and laugh. However, let's not forget that every piece of code they write and every root-kit they successfully deploy will soon be taken advantage of by black-hats, quite probably in ways that will cause damage to systems completely unrelated to media playback of any sort. The only way I can see to let the MPAA/RIAA proceed is to require them to post a significant bond (in the billions) to pay for damages their rootkits will cause. Managing how damages are going to be awarded is going to be a legal nightmare though, since this will not affect only U.S. systems and citizens. If the U.S. permits this, I sincerely hope other nations hold the U.S. government responsible for damages, so the U.S. had better make sure Hollywood is ready to foot the bill.[/quote]

[QUOTE=Dukov Traboski;40799126]also there is laws against damaging peoples computers via malware, viruses, etc etc[/QUOTE] When you are a multi-billion company, you can just lobby the laws away.

I am probably one of very few but I honestly feel like this bullshit poisons all my joy of that kind of media these days. Whenever I actually pay for their work by going to cinema or anything, I do so knowing that lump of that money is going to lobby for things like this. I don't want to pirate it either, because that practically proves their point. I was never huge into movies either way, but I feel more and more inclined to just pick up a physical book which can't accuse nor judge me, or go play some cheap game from steam or even something inde and free like Dwarf Fortress. Not to imply that I refuse to watch the movies or anything, but their relative enjoyability which makes them preferable to other, far less "controversial" means of entertainment, is steadily dropping.

I could go to the police and confess my crimes and post a ridiculously large fine Or I could format. Tough choice.

Even if this were to happen, I bet someone would come up with a way to get rid of it, and probably a way to even stop it from hitting your computer.

[quote]Recommendation: Reconcile necessary changes in the law with a changing technical environment. When theft of valuable information, including intellectual property, occurs at network speed, sometimes merely containing a situation until law enforcement can become involved is not an entirely satisfactory course of action. While not currently permitted under U.S. law, there are increasing calls for creating a more permissive environment for active network defense that allows companies not only to stabilize a situation but to take further steps, including actively retrieving stolen information, altering it within the intruder’s networks, or even destroying the information within an unauthorized network. Additional measures go further, including photographing the hacker using his own system’s camera, implanting malware in the hacker’s network, or even physically disabling or destroying the hacker’s own computer or network. [/quote] They're also recommending legalizing actively attacking suspected networks.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;40799486]I am probably one of very few but I honestly feel like this bullshit poisons all my joy of that kind of media these days. Whenever I actually pay for their work by going to cinema or anything, I do so knowing that lump of that money is going to lobby for things like this. I don't want to pirate it either, because that practically proves their point. I was never huge into movies either way, but I feel more and more inclined to just pick up a physical book which can't accuse nor judge me, or go play some cheap game from steam or even something inde and free like Dwarf Fortress. Not to imply that I refuse to watch the movies or anything, but their relative enjoyability which makes them preferable to other, far less "controversial" means of entertainment, is steadily dropping.[/QUOTE] Plus, you know, the fact that film companies really shaft movie theatres too.

I have a home server that downloads all the linux distros for me

The greed never ends.

So, just to clarify, they want to be able to have SPECIAL exemption to break laws and infect people with ransomware. And sadly enough, it's likely to pass because of how much money they have.

[QUOTE=luck_or_loss;40800340]The greed never ends.[/QUOTE] Unless their pockets are empty. But thats only gonna happen once in a blue moon.

Hollywood is making themselves a target for like the whole internet.

Legal terrorism, yay! Gotta love it when people have the money to skirt off international fear mongering while attempting (and succeeding repeatedly) to literally destroy people's lives on a day to day basis.

I can't wait for the days of police raiding my house because I loaned a film to someone

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;40800577]I can't wait for the days of police raiding my house because I loaned a film to someone[/QUOTE] But my good sir! Those days are already here! [url=http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1273566]See?[/url] Admittedly not the same thing, but hey, it's easier to type out a twitter message than to download some obscure linux distros!

I get that they want to combat piracy somehow but what bunch of monkeys thought this would be a good idea?

-file -wait i have a mac -fuck -file -open door stop mode -computer bricked, door stop mode enabled

[QUOTE=T2L_Goose;40799722]Even if this were to happen, I bet someone would come up with a way to get rid of it, and probably a way to even stop it from hitting your computer.[/QUOTE] Already is a way: [QUOTE=wickedplayer494;40799070]To this, Hollywood can easily be given the middle finger with the use of just one word: Linux.[/QUOTE]

I think malware can be made for GNU/Linux

Yeah, those people are fucking crazy.

Remember what happens when ANY game (that doesn't rely all the time on server) has an anti-piracy measure? Yeah, that's right, it gets cracked. Now it'll be double fun for crackers: both games AND media!